For fans of: New Twists on Swedish Death Metal

What they're saying: Dom Lawson at Blabbermouth nicely sums up At The Gates’ Nightmare of Being, which he calls one of the best metal records of 2021: “sharp ideas, daring detours and miraculous, multi-layered arrangements are omnipresent, all deftly assimilated into some of the most unrelenting and gnarly death metal imaginable.” New Noise mag’s Nicholas Senior calls the record genuinely excellent, noting the fresh sounds contained: “We’ve got new (to the band) influences like post-rock, jazz, doom, and neo-classical compositions that bring a nice depth to the record’s best songs.” And Brad Sanders at Pitchfork had this to say of the exceptionally strong late career record: “on The Nightmare of Being, their weirder side claims a decisive victory: It is their best, most diverse, and most provocative album since reuniting.”

What we say: The old men of Swedish melodic death metal get more experimental on their 2nd comeback album. They sound energized on this new one, which is somewhat shockingly near as strong as their mid-90s heyday! (aka Terminal Spirit Disease / Slaughter Of The Soul)